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Each workplace develops its own culture, regardless of whether leadership is shaping it. Being proactive and improving the culture has benefits such as a more engaged workforce, greater retention of employees, attraction of higher talent, higher resiliency, and a better delivery on your brand promise.
Clearly, workplace culture is crucial to meeting almost every business goal. Let's look at what we mean when we discuss workplace culture or organizational culture.
Common Questions About Workplace Culture
It may be cliché to turn to Webster's Dictionary, but we quite like their definition. They define culture as “the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization.” So culture includes both the internal mindsets and observable actions of people in the company. And just as you can describe a person's character, you can describe a company's.
Workplace culture “defines the proper way to behave within the organization," according to SHRM. If you've worked somewhere and felt you were always doing or saying the wrong thing, you might have been feeling your workplace's cultural norms.
In his book Organizational Culture and Leadership, Edgar R. Schein refers to the culture of a group as “accumulated shared learning.” The group learns how to solve its problems, then passes these learnings to new members. They teach “the correct way to perceive, think, feel, and behave.”
Research reported in MIT Sloan Management Review found that workplace culture is over 10 times more important than compensation in predicting turnover.
Employee engagement is the barometer of workplace culture. Employees who say their culture is positive are 3.8x more likely to be engaged.
When looking at high-engagement companies versus low-engagement companies, we see:
- 78 percent decrease in absenteeism
- 63 percent decrease in accidents
- 18 percent increase in productivity
- 23 percent increase in profitability
Read more about defining and measuring workplace culture »
Here are some examples of workplace culture in action. In other words, stated values put into practice.
- A company with a culture of innovation and risk-taking may encourage employees to experiment with new ideas without fear of failure. This could mean allowing side project time like Google, Apple, Atlassian, and BBC. Or the company could run internal competitions for new product ideas.
- An organization with a culture of open communication may have an “open door” policy. This means employees at any level can talk to managers or executives. They can share ideas, concerns, or feedback freely. Regular town hall meetings and employee surveys ensure that everyone gets a say.
- A workplace with a culture of collaboration may structure its physical or virtual spaces to foster frequent communication. This could mean open office layouts or shared digital workspaces. These companies should prioritize cross-functional projects and team-building activities.
In companies with a strong customer-centric culture, employees are trained and encouraged to go above and beyond for customers. Amazon, for example, is known for its “customer obsession,” where employees at all levels make decisions based on customer needs and feedback.
Once a DiSC® program has been introduced to an organization, people start using their knowledge of DiSC in multiple positive ways. Read about some of our favorites »
Just 20% of U.S. employees feel connected to their organization's culture. To keep people engaged, companies must build a strong, positive workplace culture that makes employees feel involved. Learn more about employee retention strategies »